Gathering mechanism for loading machines



111 l w t ..1 4H o s, 4 w ,c 11a y K. 2 t e m M, SS C//l4 wz L/f. m ma 6M M3 ,9 o .w m1 J www, w ,RWM no AFd LMe cmu .NF LAHnl ha JPM Mg n.1 Nr. WVO HH mf .A r 9 3 9 1l. A., 2 'IJ Jan. 24, 1939. J. g-. cLARKsoN GATHERING MECHANSM FOR LOADING MACHTNES original Filed June 17. 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JOHN L. CMR/sof H/S AT ORNEYl Patented Jan. 24, 1939 `UNITED STATES GATHERING MECHANISM FOR LGADING MACHINES John L. Clarkson, Nashville, Ill.

Application June 17, 1933, rSerialNo. 676,274 Renewed October 6, 1937 14 Claims.

'This invention pertains to loading machines, such as may be used for loading coal in mines, or :for loading lump or granular material of other forms. More particularly this invention pertains to gathering mechanism for such loading machines.

.The ordinary structure of a loading machine of this Atype has a carriage which may be movable either "upon track rails, or upon a caterpillar mechanism so that the entire machine may be moved about from place to place. An elevating conveyor .usually extends downwardly and forwardly from .the carriage in a position to receive the material and convey it up over the carriage u to 'a second conveyor which in turn transfers it to mine cars or other receptacles. Mounted in advance of the lower end of the elevating conveyor there is usually mechanism for gathering coal or other material from the ground and delivering it to the elevating conveyor. The present invention is concerned with such gathering mechanism.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide gathering mechanism which will eiectively clear the ground in advance of the machine so that its forward progress may be unobstructed.

Another object is to provide such mechanism which will -deliver the material gathered to the elevating conveyor and which will be adapted to free the delivered material of the gathering mechanism so that when once delivered to the conveyor .the material will be free of the gathering devices.

Another object is to provide such gathering mechanism which will not only be capable of clearing the ground before the machine but which will undercut a mass of standing coal, for instance, so as to provide an opening into which the tip of the gathering device may be advanced.

Another object is to provide gathering mechanism provided with gathering chains and picks for said chains which will be eiiective in carrying out the purpose of clearing the ground in advance of the machine and at the same time freeing the delivered material on the elevating conveyor.

Further objects will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of a gathering head embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of the Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail showing the mounting of 56 picks;

.Figure 4:.issa1plan 'viewrof .a form of pick embodying fthis invention;

AFigure .5 .is aside view of vthe same;

Figure 6 .is :a .plan vew'of another form;

IFigure 7 fis .a :side view of the same; 5

Figure 28 isa plan view of still another embodiment;

VFigure 91-is a side view of Figure 8, and

.Figure .10 ,is a Vperspective View of a special mounting plate Afor the picks. 10

.Figures 12and 11 are respectively a side and a plan view of :a .completeloader illustrating the type vof `machine to Awhich this linvention is applied.

The general structure of the machine selected 15 for illustration in the .accompanying drawings is similar to that of Patent No. 1,904,355, .issued to John L. Clarkson, April 18, 1933.

Referring .to .the drawings, l designates that portion .of .the frame v.of theloader which carries 20 the elevating conveyor. Suitably journaled on the .forward .portion fof vthe .frame .I is a roller 2 over which .the :conveyor 3 passes. This may be in .the :form of .a :simple belt or any suitable type -of chainfor link conveyor. Suitable mech- 25 anism -for .driving .the conveyor 3 is indicated generally .at 24 'in the drawings. The main frame Iaalso .carries arear `conveyor 43 arranged to receive Amaterial from the elevating conveyor 3 anddeliver.it;to-1r1ine carsin a well known 30 manner.

Mounted on the frame I and at the forward end of the conveyor is fa gathering head providing agathering shoe 4 upon whichthe material may be gathered. Thismay be in the form of a 35 plate extending .downwardly substantially to the ground in advance of the conveyor 3. It may be mounted at an linclination to the conveyor 3 so that `its rear end :is elevated 'thereabove Mountedffor movement Yon the shoe 4 is a pair of gathering chains .5. 'Ihese chains may be arranged each to pass over a sprocket 6 at their upper ends. This Vsprocket maybe driven by ra downwardly extending shaft 'I driven by bevel gears 8 connected in any suitable manner with the driving 45 mechanism for the conveyor '3. 'Ihese driving connections are well knownin the art and need not be described in detail. At its lower end each chain 5 passes over 'ajguide roll or sprocket 9 so that -each 'chain and the picks carried thereby 50 are adaptedito lmove in a closed orbit on the shoe 4. Suitable 'adjusting'means Vsuch as the tension screw 3Ill maybe provided to vary the distance between the sprockets 6 and `9 so that the tension .ofthe chain 5.may be adjusted. Each chain 55 5 is armed with a plurality of picks or gathering arms indicated generally by the numeral I I. The rollers 9 at the lower ends of the chains are preferably larger than the sprockets B and are so placed that the chains are closer together at their lower ends than at their upper ends. This provides a narrow throat I2 between the chains at their lower ends, the chains flaring apart from this point upward along the shoe. The shoe is terminated at a point I3 over the conveyor 3 but at a point in advance of the sprocket 6 so that the material is delivered over the edge I3 to the conveyor before the chainpasses around the sprocket 6. The picks II are located on the chains 5 in such a manner that the picks of different chains alternate in passing through the throat I2. It will be notedlthat eachk 4pick as it passes around the roll 9 extends outwardly beyond the front edge of the shoe 4. l

The picks may be mounted by inserting the same as a link in the chain in a well known manner. They may also be mounted by means of a pair of mounting plates I4, as illustrated in Figure 3. In either case the pick is mounted rigidly on the chain so as to be relatively inflexible either laterally or vertically. The shape of the pick is such that its tip I5, as shown in Figure 3, is in advance in the direction of movement of the pick, of the radial line through the center of the sprocket 9 and the vcenter of the link on which the pick is mounted. This is clearly shown in Figure 3. Its effect is to place the tip I5 well in advance of the body of the pick so that when an obstruction is encountered it will be struck by the sharpened end of the pick rst in which case the pick is more effective in dislodging the obstruction.

The elevating conveyor may be mounted on the main frame so that the gatheringhead may be raised or swung to either side as described in the above mentioned Patent No. 1,904,355.

As shown in Figures 5 and 7 the pick is provided with a base portion 25 substantially parallel to the chain and which may, if desired, be arranged to slide on the shoe 4. The outer portion of the pick is directed upwardly at an angle to the portion 25, as indicated at I6, the angle being substantially supplementary to the angle of inclinationof the shoe 4 to the ground. Accordingly as the picks pass through that portion of their orbit which extends beyond the shoe, the portion I6 will extend substantially parallel to the ground. Accordingly the picks so positioned will be adapted to encounter lumps, or obstructions on the ground which may tend to obstruct the forward progress of the machine and such obstructions may be dislodged by the picks. It may further be noted that this outward inclination of the upper end of the pick is such that in passing over the shoe 4 it extends upwardly from the shoe. Accordingly when the pick passes upwardly along the shoe its outer end is positioned at an increased elevation so that it is further capable of clearing or avoiding material which has been delivered to the conveyor. In this elevated position it may pass around the sprocket 6 without danger of catching lumps of the material and dislodging them from the conveyor 3.

The picks may be provided with upstanding horns or auxiliary picks of any suitable form and either one or a plurality of such horns may be provided. Such picks are shown at I'I in Figures 4 to 9. Such picks are favorably positioned to attack material above the gathering head so as to undercut standing coal, or the like, and clear the way for entry of the head therebeneath.

In the embodiments of Figures 8 and 9 the outer portion of the pick instead of extending at an angle, such as the part I6, is oiset as indicated at I8. This provides a similar effect in that the tip of the pick extends close to the ground at its outer end in passing beyond the shoe, but its tip is in such a position as to more effectively present a pointed tip to obstructions on the ground as distinguished from presenting a more or less continuous edge. The latter has been found in certain situations to ride over such obstructions rather than to break them away.

In Figure 10 is shown a special mounting plate I9 similar to the plates I4, but armed with an upstanding horn or pick 20 which may be similar to any of the horns I'I or may have any other suitable form. By mounting the horn 20 on the plate I9 it is positioned at a shorter radius with reference'to the sprocket 9. This is desirable in order to reduce to a minimum the space between the ingoing and the outgoing paths of the picks as sometimes material in this space is not fully dislodged. All of picks II, IB, I1, I8, 20 etc. are pointed and intended to act as digging tools. It will be noted that their function is -that of both digging picks and gathering arms and they are capable of attacking tight coal by a picking or digging action.

It will be seen, therefore, that this invention provides a gathering mechanism which is eifective in clearing the ground in advance of the gathering shoe so that the loading machine may be moved forward along the ground without undue obstruction. By bringing the body of the pick close to the ground and extending the tip beyond the end of the shoe obstructions may be easily dislodged. At the same time the outer end of the pick is elevated above the shoe at the upper end of its travel and, as has already been pointed out, is in a position to free the material on the conveyor. A gathering mechanism armed with picks in accordance with this invention is capable of working its way under a pile of material, even such stubborn material as standing coal, in a Very effective manner so that little time is lost in overcoming obstructions or similar difficulties and the machine is capable of loading the material at a rapid rate.

While this invention has been described as a unitary device, it will be understood, of course, that various individual features or subcombinations of features may be useful by themselves and independently of the rest of the complete combination. It is understood, therefore, that the employing of such individual features or subcombinations of features is contemplated by this invention and is within the scope of the appended claims. l

It is further obvious that various changes may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, in the details of construction and operation without departing from the spirit of this invention; it is to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the speciiic details shown and described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a loader of the character described, gathering mechanism comprising, a gathering shoe mounted at an inclination to the ground, a gathering chain mounted for orbital travel on said shoe, a-pick for said chain, a mounting plate rigidly connectingsaid pick to said-.chain,:and a second pickformed onsaid plate. Y

2. In a loader of the `character described, gathering mechanism comprising,':a gathering shoe mounted at an inclination to the ground, a gathering .chain mounted for orbital travel on said shoe, and a pick for said chain having a portion of its under face hollowed to clear the ground when the tip of said pick extends to the ground and an upstanding horn on the upper face thereof.

3. In a loading machine of the character described, having a gathering shoe mounted at an inclination to the ground, and a gathering chain mounted for orbital travel on said shoe at the nclination thereof, a pick for said chain having the body portion thereof offset upwardly with respect to said chain and its tip extending outwardly of said orbit to engage the ground at the lower limit of its travel.

4. In a loading machine of the character described, having a gathering shoe mounted at an inclination to the ground, a gathering chain mounted for orbital travel on said shoe at the inclination thereof, a pick for said chain having the body portion thereof offset upwardly with respect to said chain and its tip extending outwardly of said orbit to engage the ground at the lower limit of its travel, and a digging bit integrally formed on the body of said pick extending upwardly with respect to said orbit.

5. In a loading machine of the character described having a gathering shoe mounted at an inclination to the ground and a gathering chain mounted for orbital travel on said shoe, a lo-ng gathering pick mounted on said chain and having a body portion extending outwardly therefrom and a digging tip projecting forwardly in the direction of travel from said body portion, and an upright pick on said body portion having a digging tip projecting forwardly.

6. In a loading machine of the character described having a gathering shoe mounted at an inclination to the ground and a gathering chain mounted for orbital travel on said shoe, a gathering pick mounted on said chain and having a body portion extending outwardly therefrom and a digging tip projecting forwardly in the direction of travel from said body portion, and an upright pick integrally formed on said body portion having a digging tip projecting forwardly.

7. In a loading machine of the character described having a gathering chain traveling in an orbital path, a long gathering pick having a base portion provided with an ear adapted for attachment to the chain, a body curving upwardly and forwardly with respect to the chain orbit, and terminating in a digging tip, and an upstanding horn on and integral with said body and terminating in a forwardly directed digging tip,adapted to provide a plurality of digging elements positioned to attack the material simultaneously at spaced points.

8. In a loading machine of the character described, an elevating conveyor, a gathering shoe at the front of said conveyor mounted at an inclination to the ground, endless gathering chains mounted for orbital travel on said shoe at each side of said conveyor, said chains extending upwardly and backwardly of the front terminus of said conveyor, gathering arms mounted on each of said chains, said gathering arms having a pick extending upwardly and forwardly therefrom arranged to dig into the lower surface of material overhanging said shoe.

9. In a loading machine of the character described, an elevating `conveyor at the front-of the machine, a gathering head at the front of said conveyor mounted at an inclination to the ground, endless gathering chains mounted for orbital travel on said :head at each side of said conveyor, said chains extending upwardly a-nd rearwardly with respect to said conveyor, gathering arms on said chains and extending outwardly therefrom adapted to gather the material to be loaded to said conveyor, and picking means on and movable with said chains and extending upwardly and forwardly with respect thereto arranged to dig into material overhanging said head to fracture and dislodge the same.

.10. In a loading machine of the character described, an elevating conveyor at the front of the machine, a gathering head at the front of said conveyor mounted at an inclination to the ground, endless gathering chains mounted for orbital travel on said head at each side of said conveyor, said chains extending upwardly and rearwardly with respect to said conveyor, gathering arms on said chains and extending outwardly therefrom adapted to gather the material to be loaded to said conveyor, and picking means on and movable with said chains and extending upwardly and forwardly with respect thereto and positioned with respect to said gathering arms to attack and dig into standing material at a point spaced from the point of attack of said arms such as to fracture and tear down the material.

11. In a loading machin-e of the character described, an elevating conveyor at the front of the machine, a gathering head at the front of said conveyor mounted at an inclination to the ground and fixed in spaced relation to said` conveyor, endless gathering chains mounted for orbital travel on said head at each side of said conveyor, said chains extending upwardly and rearwardly with respect to said conveyor, gathering arms on said chains and extending outwardly therefrom adapted to gather the material to be loaded to said conveyor, and picking means on and movable with said chains and extending upwardly and forwardly with resp-ect thereto arranged to dig into material overhanging said head to fracture and dislodge the same.

12. In a loading machine of the character described, a machine frame, an elevating conveyor at the front of the machine, a gathering head at the front of said conveyor mounted at an inclination to the ground, means for mounting said conveyor and head for movement as a unit on said frame, endless gathering chains mounted for orbital travel on said head at each side of said conveyor, said chains extending upwardly and rearwardly with respect to said conveyor, gathering arms on said chains and extending outwardly therefrom adapted to gather the material to be loaded to said conveyor, and picking means on and movable with said chains and extending upwardly and forwardly with respect thereto arranged to dig into material overhanging said head to fracture and dislodge the same.

13. In a loader of the character described, gathering mechanism comprising, a' gathering shoe mountedat an inclination'to the ground, a gathering chain mounted for travel on said shoe in an orbit reclining with respect to a vertical plane, a pick for said chain, and a second upstanding forwardly extending pick adjacent said first pick.

14. In a loading machine of the character described, having an elevating conveyor at the on said chains movable therewith extending upfront of the machine, a head at the front of said wardly and forwardly with respect thereto arconveyor mounted at an inclination to the ranged to dig into material overhanging said ground, endless chains mounted for travel on head to fracture and dislodge the same. said head at the sides of said conveyor in orbits reclining with respect to a Vertical plane; picks JOHN L. CLARKSON. 

